Thok.
Sunset turned over in her bed, stirring as a dull crack disturbed her sleep.
Thwak!
She grunted, cursing the neighbors as she pulled her pillow over her head. Sighing, she curled into her blankets, clenching her eyes shut. Finally, she began to doze.
THUD!
Rumblerumblerumble...
Sunset bolted upright. That came from inside! She fumbled for her baseball bat, clutching the sheets against her chest. Her hand found smooth wood and she strangled the makeshift bludgeon with her fingers, casting about her darkened apartment with blurry eyes.
Nothing. No intruder. Not a flicker of movement. She leveraged the bat above her head, wiping the grit from her eyes with her free hand. Still nothing.
Her apartment was small, only one room. Sparsely furnished too, no place for an intruder to hide. She exhaled, loosing a nervous breath as she let herself relax. It must have come from upstairs. Yeah, that made sense. Thin floors and all.
Of course, that didn’t explain the pale yellow ball slowly rocking back and forth in the middle of the floor. Her heart jumped into her throat as she raised the bat defensively. “H-hello?”
CRACK!
Sunset nearly jumped out of her bed, not to mention her own skin, as something smashed against her window. Her eyes narrowed, flicking from the window to the ball on the floor. She growled. “Pinkie.”
Swearing, she pushed herself off her worn, second hand mattress. “Damn it, girl, you’re gonna make me lose my deposit.” Her bare feet slapped against the hardwood as she scooped up the ball and marched to her half opened window and slammed it open. “WHAT!?”
Her only response was a drunken snickering. That… wasn’t Pinkie Pie. Her eyes narrowed, fixating on a dark figure standing just out of view in the alleyway “Aaaaye, Shimmer!” the stranger giggled.
”The fu-” Sunset had to blink, not trusting her sleep addled senses. That voice- it couldn’t be…
“Aria!?”
“It’s Aria!” the figure chuckled, clumsily skipping out of the shadows. The pale, feeble light of a nearby street lamp fell across familiar pigtails and a ratty hoodie. She flashed a maddened grin, tossing something in the air and catching it in her right hand. A small black ball, nearly identical to the one in Sunset’s hand.
“I… what?” Sunset spluttered, confusion and indignation warring in her sleep fogged mind. “Why are… I haven’t seen you since the music festival! Why are you throwing billiard balls at my apartment!?”
“Because I don’t know your cell number!” Aria retorted with more than a touch of condescension.
Sunset glared at her, then pointed up at the sky, pitch black but for the pervasive glow of the city at night. “Aria,” she said slowly. “It is three o’clock in the Celestia-damned morning.”
Aria shrugged. “You coming down or not?”
Sunset groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “No, I am not coming down. I am trying to sleep, and I don’t feel like falling for whatever crazy scheme you and your sisters have cooked up this time.”
The other girl glared up at her. “Dagi’s dead.”
Sunset’s heart stopped. She felt herself stumble, bracing herself against the window frame. Adagio Dazzle, dead? The lead singer of the Dazzlings? Dead? The first of the group of sirens who were banished from Equestria, who nearly took over her school with barely a drop of magic? Dead?
She opened her mouth, lost for words. What was there to say? “She… what? I-”
Only to be cut off by Aria’s mad, cackling laughter. “Haaah! You shoulda seen your face!” she screeched, only barely ducking away in time to avoid the 9 ball Sunset hurled at her head. “Whoa- hey!”
“Fuck off and good night!” Sunset spat, grabbing the bottom of the window.
“Are you sure you wanna do that?” Aria’s tone was taunting, mocking. She said another word, rolling it across her tongue with sadistic glee: “Flanksy?”
Sunset stopped dead. ”What did you just call me?”
Aria grinned, holding up a cell phone. The screen glowed in the dusky night of the alleyway, too far away to make out what it showed. But Sunset could guess.
“Are you blackmailing me?” she asked coldly.
Aria shrugged. “Depends.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Depends on what?”
Aria grinned. “I wanna do some crimes. You in?”
==O==
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Sunset muttered to herself as she changed into her street clothes. Black jeans, black shirt, black jacket and black cap. Not that she intended to play along, exactly. Not a chance, not with someone like Aria. But, well, better safe than sorry, and she wasn’t about to get caught up in the Dazzlings’ shenanigans wearing a bright yellow “arrest me!” shirt.
And so she found herself in a back alley in the middle of the night standing face to face with a girl that was a criminal in at least two dimensions. “Fine. You got me here. What do you want?”
“I told you,” Aria scoffed, “We’re gonna do some crime.”
“Uhuh,” Sunset said, thoroughly unamused. She found herself edging away from the pigtails girl. Now that she was closer, Aria looked… off. More than normal, rather. Her clothes were ruffled and dirty, and she reeked of booze. “And what makes you think I wanna get in on this ‘crime’?”
Aria shrugged. “Dunno. I’m bored.”
“Oh yeah?” Sunset narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Then she blinked. Cocked her head. “Are you… barefoot?”
“Are you naked?” Aria retorted, turning and stalking off down the street.
“What!?” Sunset stumbled, taken aback, before stomping after the retreating siren. “Of course I’m not, you can see what I’m wearing!”
“Then don’t ask stupid questions with obvious answers,” she shot back.
Sunset exhaled a long, suffering sigh. “Fine,” she said, “Let me rephrase. Why are you barefoot?”
“Because fuck you, that’s why!” Aria snapped.
A window slammed open a few stories up. “SHUT THE FUCK UP, PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!”
“FUCK YOURSELF! YOUR MOTHER’S A WHORE!” Aria screamed, chucking her 8 ball randomly.
CRASH!
“Uh oh,” she swore, taking off down the alley as more lights turned on and the sound of shattered glass pelted the alley. “Book it!”
“Aria!” Sunset cried, bolting after the fleeing siren, “Why do you have those!?”
“Stop asking stupid questions!”
==O==
“Ow. Ow.” Aria hissed, pulling another shard of glass out of her bloody sole.
“So, what did we learn?” Sunset asked smugly.
Aria glared up at her, then flicked the shard down the alleyway. Sunset chuckled, hands in her pocket as she leaned against the brickwork. Her place was several blocks behind them now, as they’d bolted and not looked back, but she still had a pretty good idea of where they were.
Grumbling, Aria dug into her pockets, fishing out a cigarette and lighter. She flicked the catch, producing a tiny flame as she placed the cig between her lips. “I’d offer you one,” she said around the filter, “but you’re, y’know, kind of a bitch.”
“I’m not the one chucking pool balls at people’s windows in the middle of the night,” Sunset retorted, rolling her eyes.
Aria shrugged, sucking in a lungful of smouldering tobacco and blowing it out her nose. “Whatever.”
“Anyway, I don’t smoke,” Sunset finished, eyeing the glowing cherry between Aria’s fingers. “Those things’ll kill you, you know.”
Aria laughed dryly. “Yup.” She took another slow, deliberate drag.
Sunset held her tongue at that, and shuffled her feet uneasily. This was a bad, bad idea. She shouldn’t be out here, not with this crazy psychopath. “So, really, what are we doing out here?”
“I already told you-” Aria growled, but Sunset raised a hand to cut her off.
“If you say ‘crimes’ again I’m gonna hit you.”
Aria’s eyes rolled up in thought, as she took another drag from her cigarette. “Mmm… illegal activities.”
“Aria…” Sunset said warningly.
Aria huffed. “Fine. I was thinking trespassing, vandalism, and underaged drinking… for now.”
“Okay...” Sunset said slowly, “We’ve done… none of that so far.”
Aria scoffed and pushed herself up, gingerly walking on the balls of her feet. Lazily, she waved a hand for Sunset to follow. They were near the end of the residential district, right where it bordered the industrial part of town, and the alleyway let out overlooking the railyard.
Aria pointed toward the high, chain link fence at the bottom of the steep gravel incline. “Tresspassing.” She lurched over toward a dumpster, heaved herself partway over the edge and hauled out an oversized duffle bag, throwing it toward Sunset. “Vandalism.” She hoisted herself up again and snagged a hefty bottle wrapped in a paper bag. Tearing off the bag, she twisted the bottle to show Sunset the label. Vodka: proof stupid. “Underage Drinking.”
“Where did you get that?” Sunset asked suspiciously.
Aria stared back at her, one eyebrow raised.
“Right,” Sunset sighed, “no stupid questions.”
Aria chuckled, leaning against the dumpster and sliding back down to her ass. “Damn right.”
Shrugging in defeat, Sunset slid down next to her, stowing the duffel bag on her other side. It rattled with a hollow, metallic sound. Curious, she pulled the zipper. It was just as she thought- spray paint. “Well that’s a relief,” she chuckled awkwardly. “I thought you wanted to rob a bank or something.”
“Nah,” Aria said dismissively, twisting off the cap. “That’s second date stuff.”
Sunset shot her a bemused look as Aria upended the bottle, splashing a shot’s worth over her lacerated foot. “A date, huh? That what this is?”
Aria hissed as the alcohol burned her soles. “What did I say about stupid questions?”
Sunset rolled her eyes, swiping the bottle. She took a long pull, and gagged. That stuff was foul. Compared to Applejack’s family cider, or the wine bottles Rarity sometimes smuggled to their sleepovers, this stuff was like drinking formaldehyde.
Aria scowled, snatching the bottle back. “You don’t like it, don’t drink it.” She took a big swig, coughed, and glared at the bottle as she punched her chest. “This shit is awful.” She took another swig before handing it back to Sunset.
“Yup,” Sunset said after another pull, “just as bad the second time.” They sat in silence a while longer, passing the bottle back and forth as a faint trail of smoke wafted from Aria’s cig. Eventually, it burned out, and Aria snuffed the butt against the ground. Sunset glanced at her in concern. “Your feet feeling any better?”
“Nope,” Aria retorted dismissively, pushing herself to her feet. “Let’s go.”
They stowed the half empty bottle in the bag and Sunset hoisted it over her shoulder. She felt herself swallowing a lump in her throat, working up the courage to ask what was on her mind. “So, uh… what you said before.”
Aria glared back over her shoulder. “Huh?”
“That name,” Sunset pressed. “Flanksy.”
“Oh, that.” Aria snickered. “You aren’t subtle. Lots of people know about you. Well, not you, you. But your tag.”
“Oh,” Sunset said flatly. She hadn’t realized she had a reputation, much less that her little alias had become common street knowledge.
Aria smirked knowingly. “But I know.” She pulled out her phone, opened an image. Sunset caught a glimpse of the gritty photo. A colorful mural, and a girl. A very familiar girl. Wearing a familiar jacket and a familiar cap, atop a shock of familiar red hair.
She glanced down sheepishly at her current attire. “Ah.”
“Yeah. ‘Ah.’” Aria repeated mockingly. “I thought it might be funny to turn you into the cops. But I uh…” she coughed, actually looking a little embarrassed. “I ain’t exactly in the clear myself.”
Sunset hefted the bag on her shoulder, and the cans jostled against each other. Something clicked, and she snapped her fingers. “You! You’re a street artist too!”
Aria shot her an incredulous look, one that screamed “What? You’re just putting this together now?”
“I mean-” Sunset stuttered. She wracked her memory, thinking back to other street art she’d seen, other tags. One stuck out in recent memory. A jagged black serpent, edged with a deep purple. Her eyes widened in recognition. “You! You’re Black Adder!”
Aria sketched a mocking bow. “The same.”
Sunset grinned. “That’s amazing! I’ve admired your work!” She paused for a moment as another thought struck her. “Hey, wait a minute- I’ve got a bone to pick with you!”
Aria raised an eyebrow. “Just one?”
“You ruined my best work!” Sunset hissed in accusation.
“Did I?” Aria asked dismissively.
Sunset nodded sharply. “Last month! On Mane and Seabiscuit!”
Aria scoffed. “That tacky piece of shit? It deserved what it got. Besides, I made it better.”
Sunset fumed, stomping the gravel angrily. The piece had been one of her favorites, a ten foot tall mural of an elegant, rearing alicorn. She’d worked on it for the better part of a week, sneaking out every day after midnight and almost getting caught twice. Trying to remember every detail, to capture the beauty, the ethereal power of the creature she’d seen at-
Ah.
The Battle of the Bands.
She sheepishly cleared her throat. “Oh, I- I guess I can see how that one rubbed you the wrong way.”
“No shit,” Aria replied acidly.
Aria and her sisters had been on the receiving end of the full force of that alicorn’s power. It had wrecked their performance, and shattered the gems that harnessed the last of their Equestrian magic.
That explained the coiling black serpent that had appeared overnight, strangling the alicorn and sinking its fangs into its neck. “That is-” Sunset stuttered, “Okay fair, but- that’s still like a breach of etiquette or something!”
Aria rolled her eyes. “Bite me.”
Sunset huffed. She opened her mouth to retort, but held her tongue. Couldn’t really blame her for that one. Besides, the end result did look kinda cool. Maybe she could let it slide… just this once.
Either way, now wasn’t the time for arguing. They were at the fence now, and a bit of caution was called for. It wasn’t exactly max sec, but there was a guardhouse on the far side of the yard near the gate, and a soft glow poured from the window. Aria held up a hand for caution, then scampered up the fence, easily scaling the chain link with the help of her toes.
Sunset heaved, chucking the bag over to Aria before grabbing the fence herself. She took a last look toward the gatehouse and began climbing. Her boots actually made it a little harder, but she was glad to have them once she was over as the gravel crunched underfoot. Either way, Aria didn’t seem to mind. She was waiting with the bag, arms crossed as her fingers tapped her bicep impatiently. “Come ON,” she hissed.
Sunset rolled her eyes, giving her hand a dismissive flip. “Lead the way, boss.”
Aria scoffed, turning into the railyard. The place was a maze of railcars, mostly big yellow boxcars with the occasional flatbed or coal carrier. Aria navigated the artificial aisles and alleyways with little care, leading them deep into the yard. Sunset looked around with a sense of wonder, the same feeling you get when you find yourself in an empty parking lot at 2 a.m. Which, she supposed, was accurate in a sense.
The massive cars towered overhead, blocking out the dim ambiance of the city lights. Finally, Aria stopped, apparently satisfied that they were suitably lost among the behemoths. She dropped the bag, waving to her chosen canvas. A tall boxcar, relatively new, with no rust yet and barely any graffitti. Sunset sidled up beside her, eyeing her selection with the look of a professional.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “Yeah, that’ll do nicely.” She grinned, turning to Aria just in time to see the siren conceal her own.
“Yeah, no shit,” Aria blustered, “‘s why I fuckin chose it.”
“Right,” Sunset nodded. “So, what did you have in mind?”
Aria shot her a dirty glare. “What did I say-”
”-About stupid questions.” Sunset huffed. “Yeah, I got it. Freestyle then?”
“Freestyle.”
==O==
Crack.
Snap.
Hiss.
Shooka-shooka.
Hiss.
Shooka-shooka.
Pop.
Hiss.
Paint cans have their own brand of music, their own language in the dead of night when the ordinary folk- and cops- are asleep. It’s a language of freedom, a language of self-expression. And, tonight, it is the language of crime.
Sunset set upon the canvas with fiery shades of pink and red, the better to compliment the pale orange backdrop. Her vision took shape in cloudy, nebulous forms, billowing out from a central point. Aria attacked the car with practiced vision, striking with sharp blacks and purples as jagged shapes and harsh shadows began creeping from her chosen corner.
And something magical began to appear.
On one side, a swirl of light and fire. On the other, a shadow of death. More colors joined the fray. Whites and greys, golden yellows and poisonous greens. Until the image began to reveal itself.
A mighty alicorn, glowing like the sun. Her mane sunlight and her wings fire.
A three headed hydra, dark and brooding. Two heads snapping at the third as it stretched for the alicorn with its mouth agape.
A swirling globe where their energies clashed, dark shadows marring the white core. the empty spaces were filled with music notes, half swirling and beautiful, half jagged and broken.
Finally, the song stopped. The spent cans were dropped on the ground, the artists stepping back to admire their handiwork.
“It’s…”
“Yeah.”
It was the battle of the bands. Not in so many words, but there it was. They were silent a moment, taking in the details of the others contribution. The alicorn’s coat was highlighted with a rainbow of colors, reflecting the elements that were released in the conflict. The serpent’s black scales glistened with hints of blue, purple and gold. A crimson heart lay shattered into three pieces against its chest, burning with a rainbow flame.
It had happened without planning, without words or Equestrian magic. Just the simple magic of expression. And for a moment, they were… not friends, exactly. Partners? Maybe. But close.
“You there!”
The two started, suddenly blinded by a white light as a security guard rounded the corner. Angry footsteps crunched the gravel, accompanied by the furious howl of an ill-tempered guard dog.
“Fuck!”
“Shit, shit, shit shit!”
The girls bolted, ducking around the boxcar ahead of the light, but the thudding gait of the massive canine was hot on their heels. They turned another corner, sliding recklessly back the way they came. No sign of the fence, but they had a general idea of the direction. As long as it was away from the dog. They rounded another corner, too slow, as a dark blur shot out from under a train car, snarling as it drove Aria to the ground.
“Oh no you don’t!” Sunset screamed, swinging the duffel bag at the mutt as hard as she could. It whirled on her, snapping at the bag and tearing it out of her hands, knocking her off balance. Sunset lashed out with her foot, earning an angry yelp as she caught its snout with her heel.
“Catch!”
Sunset jolted at Aria’s scream, barely nabbing a silver canister from the air before the dog charged her again. No time to think! She turned the spray can on the mutt, blasting it full in the face with glittery paint. It recoiled fiercely, howling in pain as it viciously dragged its snout across the ground. Sunset pushed herself to her feet, heart pounding, just as the light found her again.
“Found you, you little crook! What the hell did you do to my dog!? Get back here!”
Sunset just ran, not sparing him a second glance as the fence finally came within sight. Aria was already halfway up by the time Sunset reached her and began clamoring up after, booted feet slipping on the slick links. She only made it partway before the dog got her.
“Gah!” she screamed, gripping the fence for dear life as vicious jaws tore at her pant leg.
“Fuck off, you little bitch!” Aria screamed. She swayed, balancing on top of the fence as moonlight glinted off of the billiard ball in her right hand. Her arm scythed violently downward as she released the ball, hurling it into the mutt’s skull with a dull crack.
The dog fell back with a whimper, releasing Sunset’s jeans just long enough for her to scramble over. The guard arrived just in time to watch their backs as they retreated up the hill, shouting expletives as his dog raged uselessly against the fence. The girls just kept running.
==O==
“Haha! Holy shit, that was awesome.” Aria huffed as they finally stumbled to a stop, doubled over and panting for breath. “We almost fucking died!”
Sunset, gasping, presented a single finger in response. Aria only cackled all the harder.
“That was…” Sunset wheezed, “so stupid... and dangerous…”
Aria grinned knowingly. “Aaand?” she pressed.
Sunset laughed, leaning against the wall for support. “And the best damn piece I’ve ever done.”
Aria’s grin widened. “Damn right. The danger fuels the artistic vision, or something.”
Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, or something.”
They fell into silence again, and Aria lit another cigarette.
Sunset frowned, biting her lip. Aria looked… drained. Exhausted. Dirty clothes, unkempt hair. Dark crescents under her eyes.
Something stirred in Sunset as she realized that she looked skinnier too. “So…” she said slowly, “I haven’t really seen you since the music festival.”
Aria shot her a look askance. “You saw us perform?”
“Uh… yeah. Part of it anyway.” Sunset blushed. She’d forgotten in all the excitement, there’d been a lot of magic and some time shenanigans going around. Aria wouldn’t remember the… incident, with the van. Thank Celestia.
Aria nodded, apparently satisfied. “We were good, right?”
Sunset swallowed. “Um…”
Aria scoffed. “Yeah, didn’t think so. That autotune crap can't match up to real magic.”
Sunset scratched her neck apologetically. “Sorry.”
“Whatever.”
A car passed by, briefly flashing its lights down the alley.
”So uh, how are your sisters then?”
Aria growled, flicking her cigarette to the ground. Sunset winced as she ground it out with her bare foot. “They’re dead.” She said flatly.
Sunset narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Like, ‘dead,’ dead, or…?”
“Dead to me,” Aria spat. “Adagio’s busy locking clams with some rich bitch, and Sonata ran off with the van to take a gig up in Mane. Haven’t seen her since.”
“Oh,” Sunset said quietly. “Do they…”
“What?” Aria snapped, “Know I’m out on the street?”
Sunset bit her tongue and nodded.
Aria scoffed. “Adagio probably thinks I’m with Sonata, and Sonata probably thinks I’m with Adagio. Sonata’s too stupid to ask and Dagi doesn’t care.” She scowled, clenching a fist. “It doesn’t matter. I’m fine on my own! We managed this far in this shitty world with just each other, I can manage it alone without those two idiots weighing me down.”
The words struck Sunset like a gut punch. She knew those feelings, if not the exact words. That feeling of betrayal from someone who was as close as family. Of wrongs, real or perceived, it made no difference. Of deciding to go it alone. Loneliness…
So. That’s why she’d shown up at her doorstep, chucking billiard balls at her window.
“Hey,” Sunset said gently.
“What?” Aria snapped.
“Wanna knock over a convenience store?”
Aria stared at her a moment, dumbfounded.
“...Yeah, yeah I think I do.”
==O==
The Triple Crown was one of those 24 hour chains that was never more than a few blocks away from any point in the city. Cloudy street lights cast the pumps into that pale yellow dusk that so pervades those nighttime urban streets. By contrast, the almost sterile white light pouring from the open windows was like a lighthouse, cutting through the fog of the early morning, a guide for those rare souls that were already up at this hour, or who’d never been asleep.
The girl at the counter barely spared a glance for the pair who stepped into the empty store. Sunset, with her hair tucked up into her cap and her jacket collar up to obscure her face. Aria, form obscured by her baggy sweater, her hood pulled tight over her head. The cashier scoffed, barely glancing up from her phone. “Fucking teenagers.”
Sunset bit her lip, eyeing the cashier peripherally as she casually browsed a rack of candy bars. Carefully, she lifted something from the shelf- a nutty caramel bar- and slipped it into her pocket, eyes alert for any reaction. Nothing.
She turned a corner, careful to keep her head down to hide her face from any security cameras as she lifted a peanut butter cup and a packet of cookies, slowly making her way to the drink coolers at the back. That was the real goal of her mission.
Aria rolled her shoulders as she pulled the bathroom door closed behind her, turning the lock as it clicked shut. She glanced around with a grin, and cracked her knuckles. Time to get to work.
First the toilet. A wad of paper towels went into the bowl, followed by half the role of toilet paper. The sink was next. She plugged the drain, stuffing it with the rest of the TP and cranking the faucet on full blast. Finally she twisted the toilet handle, flushing it two, then three times, until it started to gurgle dangerously and the water began to rise.
Sunset glanced toward the counter as a distressing gurgle echoed through the store. The girl looked up from her phone with a start, face going pale as the bathroom emitted another sickly chuff. “Oh no, nonononono!” she begged, rushing around the counter. “No no, please not on my shift!”
She barreled toward the restroom, nearly slipping on the water that was already beginning to seep out from under the door. Sunset watched her surreptitiously as she threw open the door, screaming in horror as the bathroom continued to flood. A finger tapped her shoulder and she jumped, whirling to see Aria standing behind her with a shit-eating grin.
“What did you do?” Sunset hissed.
Aria winked, casually grabbing a box of snack cakes off the shelf as she headed for the door.
“Right,” Sunset sighed, rolling her eyes, “stupid question.” She shot Aria a look as the siren jumped the counter and began rifling through the contraband items. “Let’s go!”
“One sec,” Aria hissed, nabbing a carton of cigarettes and knocking half a dozen others to the ground. She turned back, about to jump over again, and eyed the cash register.
“Ari!” Sunset snapped.
Aria huffed, giving up on the locked register. “Yeah, yeah.” She tucked the carton under her arm and rolled back over the counter. Two seconds later, they were out the door.
==O==
The rest of the night went much the same. A few snack wrappers tossed into the gutter, a couple counts of jaywalking. Aria may or may not have taken a piss behind the local Marebucks. But eventually, they found themselves back on familiar stomping grounds. The little rusted lock was no match for a bit of force and a conveniently shaped chunk of masonry.
“Mm, I swear this shit tastes better stolen,” Aria hummed as she wolfed down a mess of frosting and carbs.
“I dunno…” Sunset muttered around a guilty bite of chocolate. “I feel kinda bad.”
Aria scoffed, downing her mouthful with a swig of beer. “Pussy.”
Sunset shrugged, taking a sip from her own bottle.
An hour of aimless wandering had brought them to a place they both knew well. Canterlot High. After a night of misdemeanors and harmless debauchery, what was a little breaking and entering and trespassing on public property? So Sunset had kept watch while Aria smashed the lock on the campus gate, and the two ended up camped out on the bleachers overlooking the soccer field, staring up at the dingy sky surrounded by their ill-gotten snack foods.
“I don’t get you.” Aria mumbled around another mouthful of saccharine starch.
Sunset raised her eyebrow questioningly.
“Your whole… thing.” Aria went on, stretching out across the bench. “When we arrived, we heard you were some kinda hardass, someone who played by her own rules and didn’t take shit from nobody.” Another bite. “Then we met you, and you were this total whipped bitch, scared of your own shadow and dancing to the tune of the principal and those sissy girls.”
Sunset leaned back on her elbows, looking up at the gradually brightening sky. “I dunno. You caught me at a pretty vulnerable time- maybe my most vulnerable. That power you felt? I got hit by it too, and probably twice as hard. That shit burned, from the inside out.”
“So? Why’d you give in?” Aria pressed. “Yeah, they beat you, boo-fucking-hoo. Man up, show ‘em who’s boss. Don’t crawl around kissing ass like a pussy.”
Sunset… shrugged. “I don’t know. They beat me, and I was just done. I didn’t want to fight anymore. I didn’t want to be alone. So, when they offered a hand in friendship… I took it.”
Aria groaned, dragging her palm down her face. “Come on, you were Equestrian, right? You used to be somebody. You must have had power, or else you never woulda been banished to this shithole.”
Flushing, Sunset hid a grimace behind another tip of her bottle. “Yeah,” she wiped her eyes, “I was... somebody. Or at least I thought I was. Student of the princess, destined for the throne.” She laughed bitterly. “That’s what I thought, anyway. Celestia- the Princess disagreed.”
Aria started, and Sunset jumped as her bottle clattered down the bleachers. Aria pushed herself up, and fixed Sunset with a skeptical glare. “You. You were a student of the Sun Queen?”
“Yeah… I was.” Sunset sighed, slumping her shoulders dejectedly.
Aria’s face seemed to flash through a bevy of emotions. Anger, scorn, disbelief. She turned away, schooling her tone to something of cool neutrality. “Right.”
Sunset leaned back on her elbows, tilting her head in confusion. “Did you… know the Princess?”
“No.” The answer was curt and biting. Sunset wanted to pry, but it didn’t seem likely that she would get much more out of that line of questioning. She already knew Aria and her sisters hadn’t exactly been on good terms with the ponies. That’s how they ended up here. Much like her.
“You know, it’s funny,” Sunset said eventually, “Principal Celestia is hardly anything like the Princess.”
Aria scoffed. “No shit. The Princess would have probably ripped our throats out if we’d tried that in Equestria. Compared to her, your principal is just… sad.”
“She’s not exactly my principal anymore,” Sunset corrected, then shook her head. “Irrelevant. What I mean is, Principal Celestia… she’s been very supportive of me. Much more than the Princess ever was. She’s the one that helped me find a place to stay.”
“That shithole?” Aria sneered.
Shrugging, Sunset flicked at a bug trying to land on her leg. “It’s not so bad. I have everything I need, and it’s clean enough. And I can afford it, more or less. It’s more than I had any right to ask for, considering.”
Aria didn’t have much argument for that. Absently, she pulled out her lighter, flicking it on and staring into the flame. Sunset stared at her in turn.
What was her game? Even after tonight, Sunset knew she really, really shouldn’t take it for granted that this all wasn’t just a part of some contrived scheme. The others could be anywhere, watching, waiting, planning some elaborate revenge. Or maybe they were waiting in her apartment, ready to jump her the moment she let her guard down.
The only thing Sunset knew was this: she could not, under any circumstances, trust Aria.
Aria the siren. Aria the liar.
Aria the dirty, barefooted homeless girl who had knocked on her window in the middle of the night.
“Hey, Aria?”
“What?” Aria snapped back caustically.
“Are you lonely?”
She saw Aria’s face twitch, a flicker of emotion that could have been rage or sorrow, or the ghost of a sneeze. She didn’t answer. Sunset drew back as the unwashed siren grabbed a cigarette from her pocket, lit it on the flame. Aria pulled back, taking a long drag from the cig.
“Why would you ask such a stupid fucking question,” she answered coldly.
Sunset deflated, turning away from the other girl, toward the horizon. The sky was just beginning to take on the golden tint of morning. She sighed, tearing open another snack pack. “I was just thinking, you know. My place may be a shithole, but at least it’s got a bed. Hot water, working toilet. I’ve got a pull-out couch.”
Aria glared ahead, eyes fixed firmly on the rising sun. “What’s your point, Shimmer?”
This was it, wasn’t it? What Aria had been trying to tell her from the start. But she’d been too distracted to see it. Too busy asking stupid questions.
Aria… was not a good person. She was angry and vindictive. Bitter, even hostile. Not the kind of person you’d invite into your house. But still.
She’d come to Sunset. In the middle of the night, drunken and vulnerable. Maybe it was a plot. Maybe it was just some drunken lark. Maybe the whole thing was the setup for some big, elaborate prank with Sunset as the punchline.
But that was the thing. Maybe it wasn’t.
Sunset leaned forward, turning it over in her mind. Building herself up to ask one last stupid question.
“Do you need a place to crash?”
Author's Note
Special thanks to:
forbloodysummer and NaiadSagaIotaOar for editing.
The lovely people of 4chan who followed the original green.
The artist who did the cover art, also on 4chan. If you want me to link you somewhere, let me know!
